Wisconsin pro day notebook

The University of Wisconsin held its annual pro day at the McClain Center Wednesday, with participation from 17 former Badgers and one athlete from Division II Winona State University.

In the following collection of notes and quotes, vertical jumps and bench press reps (at 225 pounds) were collected from observations of the day's events. All other event result information was provided by the athletes. Heights and weights are unofficial.

Kalvin Barrett, 6-1, 320, defensive tackle …. 29-inch vertical, 29 reps on bench press… Participated in all events and took part in position drills but said he did not know his times. "I think I did well," he said. "My times were a little average but I definitely did well in the drills. Made up for it in the drills."

Jonathan Clinkscale, 6-2, 315, guard…. 31-inch vertical, 25 reps… took part in drills and events. "Clinkscale really helped himself from the combine," Buffalo Bills General Manager Tom Donahue said. "His combine workout was okay, but he improved in every area today."

Chuckie Cowans, 5-8, 165, cornerback… 39-inch vertical, 12 reps, 10-6 broad jump….participated in all drills and events but did not know the rest of his scores. "I thought I did well out there today," Cowans said. "I came out to perform. I'm very confident in what I did… [Pro day] is very important for me because I didn't start every year. So to come out here and perform and show them the talent and things I have is very important for me personally."

Erasmus James, 6-4, 266, defensive end… ran the 40, 3-cone drill, shuttle and took part in position drills but did know any times… "James had a better workout here than he had at the combine," Donahoe said.

Jason Jefferson, 6-1, 310, defensive tackle… 31-inch vertical, 19 reps, 9-0 broad jump…."I did alright," Jefferson said. "I didn't do a lot of things, but I improved on my jumps. That's what I wanted to do so I feel pretty good about it."

Darius Jones, 6-3, 295, defensive tackle…. 30-inch vertical, 20 reps… took part in all events and drills. "He's a guy that I think if teams are interested in him, they'd have to bring him in and give him a medical and just investigate him further," Donahoe said. "It's a little harder when a guy hasn't been playing to tell where he'd fit in."

Matt Katula, 6-6, 280, long snapper… 34-inch vertical, 16 reps…. Hit the target on 34 of 35 snaps, with speeds of .66 to .71… "That was exactly what I was looking for," Katula said. "Low .7s, but if I could get high .6s that'd be great, which is what I did. I was really happy with that."

Scott Starks, 5-8, 172, cornerback… 4.30-4.35 40-yard dash, 6.93 3-cone… did not compete in any other events but performed well in position drills… "Starks we felt was a pretty good prospect coming in and he had a great workout; an athletic workout," Donahoe said.

"Wisconsin had a good day," Donahoe said. "They're all good kids, they work hard. This day is as well organized as you're going to find anywhere in the country. If you get a kid from Wisconsin, the kid understands how to play football, he understands what a team's all about. We were fortunate, we took Lee Evans last year and he did great for us. Maybe we can find another one like Lee Evans this year."